The Washington critic., 1887-05-28
Incidents in the Life of a Noted
Virginia Governor.
PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS.
Ono of the best Orators ana Bravest
Soldiers of the Old Dominion.

MIN WcilJ uuu COulu L Dut TcCull I'LL tne
anecdotes have heard of his wit, bu.
NOR and pluck, the tale would have to
be told In book, But there are few
matters that / remember we'll.
1t must have been somewhere In the
'5O's when / heard my father say that
Extra Billy" Smith had spoken In the
House of Representatives continuously
for three days, and, In his speech, had
read the Bible from Genesis to Reve
lations. 1t was contest which resulted
In the election of N. =. Banks as
Speaker Of the House, and 1t was
Banks for whom the Governor had
spoken. When a member of the
House, Governor Smith was almost
always seen with an unlighted cigar In
his mouth, and, on several occasions,
he was called to order by the Speaker
for 1t, but Extra Billy" always came
up smiling the next day with his inevi.
table cigar. He claimed that he was
not out Of order unless his cigar was
lighted, and his point was finally sus-
tained by the House.
was a big boy and an ardent pollti-
clan In those days, though not quite ten
years old. I recollect that In the cam.
paign Of 1866 there was barbecue at
Fairfax Station, on the line of the
Alexandria and Gordonsville Railroad,
and there was vast gathering Of the
people Of that vicinity. For lack Of
funds band of music had not been
provided, but the "Coonkiller" Of
Alexandria, a small two.pounder can.
non, had been hired to fire salute at
stated intervals.
Extra.Billy was one of the speakers,
and after talking awhile upon the is.
sues Of the day and getting very thirsty.
he asked for drink. One of the
directors Of the meeting approached
him with a mug containing nice mint
| julep; but as soon as the tempting con.
coction approached his nose and he In.
hailed Its fragrance, he raised his hand,
and waving It dramatically over the
assembly, said: mo, gentlemen, moth.
Ing but the pure bubbling spring"
That brought down the crowd In sym.
pathy. While this pathetic climax was
at Its height, some mischievous fellow
let of the coon killer" and the sponge
staff having been left in the gun, 1t
knocked down one. half OF the speaker 8
stand and astonished and frightened
the assemblage nearly out of Its senses,
but Extra. Billy" without moving a
muscle or stopping In his remarks, said {:
And SO, gentlemen, We will knock
down the Wing party" / have
thought since that 1t was the most con.
summate exhibition of GOODNESS In an
emergency ever witnessed.
The next time saw Governor Smith
was at q political meeting at Fairfax
| Court. House. just before the war. He
had a popularity of sputtering and
splitting when he got excited In his
speech, and as l was situated with my
father Immediately below him, I was
more concerned In keeping off the
frothy expectoration from his lips than
In listening to his impassioned argu.
ments, which only partly understood.
In the first real skirmish Of the war,
at Fairfax Court House, / saw him,
under difficulties and dangers that
would have appalled, the most thor
oughbred military man, in conjunction
with Colonel Ewell, rally disorgan.
lied mass of cavalry and Infantry In the
middle of the night and hold them fast
to q victory. That was Tompkins'
raid.
At the battle of the Seven Pines the
officers who were mounted were ordered
to proceed on foot. Colonel Smith
said to his men, the Forty. ninth Va. In.
fantry; You boys can pursue them,
but my limbs are too old. II the ras.
calls can kill me will not die before
my appointed time" In that battle
one of his favorite sons, Austin, who
had just come out Of northern prison
was killed, but In spite Of his conspicu
business In the fight, the old war-horst
did not receive wound. He was Sc
verely wounded however, at the battlt
Of Antietam, and was retired. Latel
still, he was elected by the unanimous
suffrage of the troops In the field a
Governor Of Virginia. When borne of
the field at Antietam Parson Cranberry
approached the litter and said: "Gen
eral, the surgeon tells me your days ar,
numbered. Let me pray with you.
The undaunted soldier replied, "Nevel
mind me. Pray as hard as you wan
that Hill will come up In time. That
more sensible. I'll outlive you all yet. ;
And so he did, as far as the majority o
the men about him were concerned.
When the final collapse came Gov
ernor Smith attempted to reach hi
home in Warrenton, Va after he hat
been cut of from his desire to 60 fur
ther South toward Lynchburg. Ii,
came North on horseback, fordel
rivers, swan through floods, encoun
tered morasses, and so on, until he cam
to the railroad bridge that had formerl!
spanned the Rappahannock. TWAS al
ugly affair at that time, being but tn
mere skeleton of bridge, with It
planks and boards and railways all tori
off and sagged down stream at least 9
degrees from the horizontal line of tn
rushing stream so feet below. Two cav
airy men had placed narrow fOotwa,
OF a couple of planks across the stringer
and had passed over safely at the ris
of their lives. 1t was dangerous TO
men to walk over to say nothing o
horses, but the Governor, some day
afterwards. with his characteristic In
petuosity, In despite of his old age, ai
tempted the passage. When nearin
the end of the frail structure his hors
; fell through, and as II by miracle
, Governor Smith was rescued from til
swift waters by his companions con
paratively uninjured.
The war being ended the Governo
devoted himself to various reforI
questions, principally to the cause G
temperance, until at an age far beyon
| the Biblical three score and ten he wa
gathered to his fathers. MURRAY.
The Billiard Match.
The fifth nights contest OF the champion
ship billiard match at the Washington Iigl
Infantry Armory resulted IN still anoth,
, victory for DAILY. He had to work hard,
last night than heretofore, however, Sexto
| nukhinp him hard all tha avpniuu and